Ghost
by fairlystrange
Summary: BEING REDONE!


**"The Avengers, of course. Who else?"**

. . .

_Prologue_

* * *

_3 Months Ago_

. . .

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Odette Phillips fidgeted incessantly with the end of her long, braided hair, staring at her parents through the rear-view mirror with wide, uncertain eyes. Her father stared back with his eyebrows raised, looking stern as he told her, "Of course it's a good idea; Mr. Stark will know how to help more than anyone. Isn't that right, dear?"

The girl's mother turned around to give her daughter a smile that was only a little forced. "Your father and I know what is best for you and this is what is best. Don't be worried." The woman reached over and patted Odette briskly on her knee, her silver bracelet jingling as she did so. "You want to know what's wrong with you, don't you?"

Odette nodded, though the anxious look in her eye didn't fade with her parents' consoling. "Mr. Stark is a smart man, he'll be able to help you," soothed Mr. Phillips, trying to sound reassuring. Although, his patience was fading with his daughter's hesitance, warning that she needed to go or she'd be late for her appointment. The teenager let out a quiet sigh and wished her parents' farewell, opening the car door and stepping onto the concrete curbside. She brought with her a small bag containing her phone and nothing else; slinging it over her shoulder before waving goodbye as the white Lamborghini pulled away from the curb and sped off. Odette stared after it for a moment, realizing there was no turning back now, before sighing in defeat and turning to look at the famous Avengers Tower. She still couldn't believe she was supposed to enter the building and meet with the one and only Tony Stark, or Ironman. Surely someone like him wouldn't want to bother wasting his time on her? The blonde continued to mess with her hair as she finally made her way towards the entrance, her heels clicking with each step. Her parents had forced her to dress in fancy attire; saying that they didn't want her to embarrass them in front of Mr. Stark. Not that she minded wearing slightly-uncomfortable clothing for a little while; her ballerina costumes were way worse than this.

Odette scanned the area for any sort of buzzer to let her in; she knew that she couldn't just walk in freely at such a prestigious institute. Her eyes sharpened as she spotted what she was looking for; the girl pressed a button and a British, male voice came out of the speaker. "State your business, please."

"Um, I'm Odette Phillips," the blonde responded quickly, leaning in closer to the microphone. "I-I have an appointment with Mr. Stark.."

The voice didn't respond immediately and Odette assumed that they were making sure she wasn't lying. She bit at her thumbnail, which was already chewed to its bed, as she waited, jumping as the voice startled her by saying that she was clear and allowed to come in. The doors before her slid open and the blonde shivered as a blast of icy air welcomed her in. She was vaguely aware of the cold, however, staring around in awe at the architecture and decor now surrounding her. Sure, she came from a wealthy household with an impressive mansion and what-not, but the technology of this place exceeded any riches her family boasted.

She had expected someone to be waiting to greet her in, but nobody had come down just yet. With nothing better to do, Odette resorted to wandering around the open lobby and marvel at the interior design. Everything about it was pristine, without a single object out of place. She assumed the entire building was the exact same way. She paused to look at an interesting-looking art piece when she heard the unmistakable sound of an elevator door opening. Turning to find out who it was, Odette was mildly surprised to see a tall strawberry-blonde approaching her with a lovely smile on her face. As she came closer to the younger girl, she held out a hand for Odette to shake. "You must be Odette. I'm Pepper Potts," the woman introduced, her smile unwavering. "Tony's waiting upstairs. Sorry for the delay; I was finishing up getting things ready."

Odette shook her head, "Don't worry about it," she assured, hardly minding that she had to wait a little longer than planned. She immediately liked Ms. Potts; of course she had known of the successful business woman and girlfriend of Tony Stark, but she hadn't suspected her to be so nice and welcoming. It was a breath of fresh air compared to her home life, in all honesty. Most everyone she knew couldn't come close to being as genuine as Ms. Potts seemed to be. She hoped the woman wasn't putting on a facade to make her seem trustworthy. Then Odette scolded herself; she was overthinking again. Of course Ms. Potts wasn't faking her kindness; what good would that do? Her parents were already friends with the two billionaires anyways- there was nothing to gain.

Seeing that Pepper was heading back for the elevator, Odette followed and stepped into the chamber, moving over so the older woman could press the button to go up. Odette was a little uncomfortable as the walls were glass and she could see herself going up, but she pushed those fears down and her fingers found the ends of her ribbon once again. She fiddled with them self-consciously, trying her best to not look outside nor stare at Ms. Potts; it was difficult to not gaze at someone who radiated pure perfection.

However, Pepper didn't seem to be bothered by the young girl, turning to look and smile at the blonde. "Where are your parents? I was sort of looking forward to seeing Mr. and Mrs. Phillips again." Odette felt a pang at the woman's words and she forced a grin upon her lips, shaking her head as if dismissing the subject. "Oh, they had something come up right before this and couldn't make it. They told me to tell you guys hello for them." That was a lie; her parents hadn't even considered accompanying her on her visit. Odette didn't know why for sure, but hadn't been surprised when they told her she would be going alone. The elder Phillips' preferred spending their time doing what they pleased instead of dealing with their daughter's agenda unless it had something to do with ballet. Both being well-accomplished ballerinas, that's all they seemed to care about. Ballet even took precedence over school at times. Odette did love the dancing; as she found it freeing; but sometimes she felt like she couldn't do anything else, even if she hated ballet./

"Oh, I see. Well, maybe next time around." Pepper flashed another brilliant smile as the elevator slowed to a stop and the doors slid open to let its occupants out. The strawberry blonde exited the chamber first, Odette following closely after. Once again, she was struck by the interior of this place, with tech she couldn't even fathom outside of the tower. There were screens that seemed to originate from nowhere, tables that appeared to serve as giant tablets, and even more things that had Odette being careful not to touch anything.

The girl's eyes darted up when she heard a new masculine voice calling for Pepper. Said woman turned from where she was scrolling on a form of screen and her eyes lit up when catching sight of Tony Stark entering the room. "You have a guest," the woman informed him while gesturing to Odette, who swallowed hard as she laid eyes on the famous billionaire. The man turned his head to look at the young teenager, his fingers snapping as he remembered why JARVIS had called him into the room. "Ah, right, the Phillips' wanted me to meet with their daughter. Take a seat, kid, I don't have time for you to stand around and gawk at me."

"Realizing what she was doing, Odette snapped her gaping mouth shut before taking a hesitant step towards the chair she had been offered, carefully settling down as if she were sitting on a seat made of gold. She couldn't believe she was in the presence of none other than Tony Stark, the one and only Ironman. A long-time fan of him and all sorts of superheroes, it was difficult for the blonde to even get a steady breath in.

"I have some of my own business to attend to, I'll check with you two later." Pepper Potts kissed her boyfriend on the cheek before grabbing a suit jacket and holding it by the crook of her elbow. "Be nice," she warned Tony with a look before turning and disappearing from the room. The man rolled her eyes at her before focusing his attention on one of his many screens. Odette was admittedly a little sad to see Ms. Potts go; she felt intimidated by being alone with one of the most successful people of all time.

After a couple more minutes of Tony walking around and muttering into a what Odette assumed to be an earpiece, the man finally made his way over to his visitor, who fidgeted nervously with her fingers. Rolling his eyes, he told her to stop being so nervous; it bothered him; before sliding into the chair right across from Odette, the only thing separating them being a glass coffee table. Forcing herself to sit still, the girl looked over at Tony, waiting for him to say something.

After a second of analyzing his "patient" through his glasses, Tony tapped a pen to his chin and began, "So the reason you're here is because of your newly-discovered abilities, hm?" After receiving a nod in reply, the man chuckled aloud, saying, "Beats me why your parents came to me for help. I don't even have real powers of my own."

"I guess they thought you were the right man for the job," Odette replied with a shrug, trying her best to hide her nerves. Tony let out a huff of laughter in response, "Or the only one they could get into contact with. Anyways, let's get down to business." He folded his hands in his lap, still holding his pen, while looking expectant as he stared at Odette. The blonde smiled nervously at him, shifting in her seat before starting from the beginning.

"I first started noticing some… weird happenings on a daily basis, like random stuff I couldn't explain. For example, one time I woke up unusually early and I was… sort of having an 'out of body' experience. I was literally floating outside of my body. I chalked it up to be a dream, but it felt so real. Other strange things continued to happen afterwards, but nothing as scary as what happened a week ago.

"It was my recital night and it was supposed to be a big deal. There were scouts from a prestigious ballet school attending and we were all to put on our best show. I was already feeling a little odd, but brushed it off to be anxiety. I really wanted to do well; my parents were counting on me to catch the scouts' attention. While practicing, I was beginning to feel worse but still didn't think anything serious was wrong. When we got out onto the stage, however, I knew that something wasn't right. I could barely stand at one point, causing me to stumble and fall to the ground. When I tried to stand back up, I just collapsed again, the worst feeling ever filling my body." Odette paused to take in a shaky breath, her hands clasping tightly together as she continued. "Then I jumped back up, feeling completely fine. I was confused; why was everyone staring at me like that? One of my friends let out a cry, saying, 'What is wrong with your body?', causing me to look down at myself.. I-I wasn't myself. I was white and glowing, as if I were a ghost. I screamed then and blacked out immediately, waking up later to find myself back at home and in my bed."

Tony frowned at this. "Your parents didn't take you to the hospital or anything?"

Odette parted her lips, realizing that it did appear strange that she hadn't been rushed to an emergency room of some sort. Shaking her head slowly, the girl replied, "I guess they didn't think I needed to go to one." Her voice was soft and uncertain, feeling uncomfortable once more.

"Huh," Tony said, tapping the pen against his knee. "Well, you're not dead, so maybe that was enough for them." Suddenly, he rose from his chair and made his way towards a large, laboratory-looking area of the room. He began tapping a large screen that Odette had to squint to see what he was doing. The man caught her looking and beckoned her over with a jerk of his head. As soon as she was standing at his side, he asked, "so, how does some testing sound? Maybe we can figure out why you're… leaving your body." The words felt weird on his tongue and Odette couldn't blame him.

"Um, sure," the blonde answered, though her hesitance betrayed her words. What would testing involve? If there were any form of needles, she would probably try to escape the tower. Mr. Stark seemed to notice her unease and patted her on the shoulder, telling her that she had nothing to worry about. "I'm not sticking anything in ya, I have more efficient ways of doing things." He walked over to a platform, waving her over once more with his hands. "C'mon, we don't have all day."

Odette obeyed, though still displayed lots of doubt about the process. Tony moved over so the girl could stand on the platform he wanted her on. "Put your feet on those markings," he instructed, pointing down for her to see a pair of foot outlines to line up her own with. "Now, stay very still," Tony warned before going back to his screen and resumed tapping on it, occasionally looking back at Odette. The blonde tried not to flinch as a sudden laser-like beam began scanning up and down her body. To her relief, it only lasted a few seconds long, and was free to relax once again. Tony stepped back from what he was doing to look at a larger screen that depicted what looked to be the results of the scanning. In all honesty, Odette was afraid to see them, but knew she didn't have much of a choice if she wanted whatever was happening to her to stop.

"Weird," she heard Mr. Stark mutter, sending a thrill of worry through her.

"What do you mean by weird?"

The billionaire glanced back at Odette over his shoulder, looking like what he was about to say wasn't going to make her too happy. "Well, whatever's happening with your body didn't just… randomly appear. You're not like Elsa, born with crazy powers. You're more of a… Captain America."

Odette's heart was beating a little too hard in her chest. "So you're saying.."

"I'm saying you were given your abilities. Your cells show the proof. You also have some internal scarring and other injuries, but I guess those could be products of your hobby.."

Odette felt herself backing away. What did he mean by "you were given your abilities"? She searched her memory for anything that would make her understand what he was saying, but there was nothing. Her breathing became labored and she nearly broke down when all of a sudden, her foot didn't meet floor and she fell off the platform, falling hard onto her back, instantly knocking the breath out of her. She laid there, gasping, as Tony whirled around at the sudden commotion, groaning at what he saw. "Really," he grumbled while hurrying to the 14-year-old's side, helping her sit back up. When he looked at Odette's face, he was surprised to see tears in her hazel eyes. "Fall too hard?" He asked, taken aback by her sudden break-down.

Odette couldn't form words, just sat there trying to catch her breath. The tears were involuntary; her fall combined with the test results was all too much for her. She rubbed her face, feeling embarrassed, before looking back at Tony and with a trembling voice asked, "What do you mean by powers?"

The man opened and closed his mouth before standing back up, pulling Odette to her feet with him. "As in you have the ability to astral project on your own free will and possibly more. I don't know how else to explain it."

The blonde said nothing, only bit her lip at his words. She didn't want _powers_. She was only fourteen and had school plus ballet to worry about, not this. She didn't ask for this. Who in the world would give her powers? Odette was having a difficult time wrapping her head around it all.

"How did I get them, though? I've never been tested on in my life. I would surely have noticed if I have been. Are you sure there is no mistake? None of this makes any sense."

Rolling his eyes, Tony interrupted the rambling teen with a loud sigh. "Slow down, kid, you're ranting. I understand none of this makes sense, it doesn't really to me, either." He scratched his head as he turned to look at the readings once more, eyes darting around the large screen. "But science doesn't lie. You were definitely given these 'quirks'."

"But… how?" Odette's voice came as a whisper as she continued to search for a good explanation. "I don't remember anything like that happening…"

A frown was etched into Tony's face as he continued staring at the results, rubbing his chin with his hand. Don't remember… something clicked in his mind. He turned sharply on his heel to look at Odette, his eyes dark with concern. Odette didn't like that look one bit.

He remembered what Steve had dealt with not too long ago; the infamous Winter Soldier. Steve had explained him to be a friend of his, Bucky Barnes, from war, who had been kidnapped by HYDRA and basically brain-washed and tested on to create the perfect weapon. Though HYDRA was in shambles and not a big threat to the world, that didn't mean they weren't capable of testing on more subjects. It was the only reason he could come up with as to why Odette was receiving strange powers without any knowledge of it happening.

"Odette," he began, calling the blonde by name for the first time, "do you… suspect any of your relatives being… I dunno, suspicious?"

Odette frowned at him, a little confused. "The only family I have are my parents," she replied cautiously, unsure of what Tony was insinuating. "So, no."

The billionaire's lips formed into a thin line at her reply, keeping quiet as he turned away to look one more time at the screen before calling out, "JARVIS, can you get me the locations of Owen and Edith Phillips?"

"What are you doing?" Odette's voice was pitchy with fear.

"I am sorry, Tony, but I cannot seem to be able to get a reading out their locations," responded the strange voice who had let Odette into the tower earlier. She was surprised to find that it wasn't a real person, but a sort of AI system that Tony utilized.

"Damnit," cursed the billionaire under his breath. "They must've known I would figure it out. But why would they…" He trailed off, glancing over at the blonde girl once more. She looked even more shaken up than before; he needed a way to distract her from what he was doing. "JARVIS, send a message to Pepper saying that I need all of my meetings canceled. Tell her that she needs to get here asap and that I'll explain later."

"Okay," responded the AI, "sending the message now."

Mr. Stark muttered a small "thank you" before walking back over to Odette. He awkwardly set a hand on her shoulder, his tone almost regretful as he spoke, "I'm sorry, kid, but you'll have to stay here for now. I'm afraid going back home isn't safe." The girl gave him a horrified look, demanding to know why, but Tony had gone off to make a call to someone unknown. As the phone was dialing, the man looked over at Odette and finally answered her questions.

"Your parents are testing on you, Odette. I'm worried that they're using you for something more. You'll have to stay with us until we can figure everything out."

"Who is 'we'?" Odette questioned, voice still shaky as she spoke.

"The Avengers, of course. Who else?"

* * *

**welcome to my first ever Avengers fan-fic! crazy right, i'm doing something other than fairy tail or rwby! it's sort of nice to take a break and write my own characters/new ones, although it'll take me a bit to truly figure out to properly do so. i hope you all enjoy this story and stick around to see what i have in store!**

**yes, this is (another) peter x oc fic, although i don't plan on them meeting in the way other authors tend to do (not that there is anything wrong with it lol). it'll be a slow-burn thing, but interesting for sure! **

**this first chapter is actually the prologue; i didn't plan it that way but i think it'll make things more fun, per say. there will be a time skip after this. **

**thank you for checking out my story! if you'd like, i would love if you follow, favorite, or review! **

**until next time, fairlystrange.**


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